Book chapters and academic publications

[adel9216]

Hello,

I see a lot of call for book chapters on my research topic these days. I often think (and almost feel obliged to) submit something to those, but am wondering if book chapters in somewhat academic books are "worth more" than academic publications in scientific journals in the long run, considering that I want to hold a position as a professor once I graduate from my PhD.

Your thoughts?

[Kron3007]

This will depend on your field.  I'm my field, journal articles are far better.  You should speak with your advisor...

[Parasaurolophus]

Yup, totally depends on field, and even sub-field.

In my field and subfield, journal articles are always "better" than chapters, and full professors tend to shift their output to chapters (so a lot of important research is disseminated that way in the end). But chapters, because they're usually invited (but not always!), count for less.

That said, there are some subfields where the most prestigious outlet for an article is as a chapter in one or two particular book series.

[Ruralguy]

Field and also type of school. That is, some schools may find that an article is as good as a chapter to  a blind horse.

[traductio]

One thing about book chapters is that books can take a lot longer to be published than articles -- the slowest contributor sets the pace because they're the slowest. I have an edited collection coming out in a month or two (just got the proofs yesterday!) that was supposed to be out in 2018, but one contributor, whose chapter I could not do without, took six months at a shot to respond or make revisions. (I took it upon myself to rework every single graph -- which meant digging for the raw data in every single case -- because I knew getting the author to do it would add a year to the publication schedule.) Fortunately, most of the contributors weren't depending on the chapter for, say, a tenure file.

Something to keep in mind.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Hello,

I see a lot of call for book chapters on my research topic these days. I often think (and almost feel obliged to) submit something to those, but am wondering if book chapters in somewhat academic books are "worth more" than academic publications in scientific journals in the long run, considering that I want to hold a position as a professor once I graduate from my PhD.

Your thoughts?

Very field specific as the others have said.

That said, the "somewhat academic" part caught my eyes. You really need to make sure both the editors and the press are solid/recognized. If you have trouble assess that yourself, seek advice from senior people before embarking in any book project.